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City looks to abolish daylight savings time and unregulated micro transmitters

by Timothy Schafer on Wednesday Mar 08 2017

The changing to Pacific Daylight Savings Time each spring has a negative impact on peopleâ€™s health and cognitive awareness. â€” Screen shot photo

Daylight Savings Time and micro cell phone towers drew the attention and ire of city council as it considered resolutions to bring to the provincial table for approval.

Each year the Association of Kootenay and Boundary Local Governments (AKBLG) allows its member municipalities the opportunity to put forward resolutions that address issues of a broader spectrum for the Kootenay-Boundary region for the membership’s consideration.

Each motion is brought forward to the membership at the annual general meeting and voted upon. Those resolutions that are passed by the membership are forwarded onto the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) in the fall for that membership’s consideration in a province-wide vote.

Two resolutions were debated and crafted as a Grand Forks offering to
the AKBLG arena, including the abolition of Daylight Savings Time, and requiring micro transmitters to fall under the same approval process as cell phone towers.

Coun. Christine Thompson said there has been considerable debate over the years as to which is better, standard time or daylight time. But she said research is showing the practice of changing to Pacific Daylight Savings Time each spring has a negative impact on people’s health and cognitive awareness.

She wanted council to support a resolution to get the AKBLG and UBCM to petition the provincial government to consult with the people of B.C. with a view to abolishing Daylight Savings Time (DST).

Coun. Colleen Ross was against the move, citing there was no support for getting rid of DST from the “Millennials.”

“Personally, I am not hearing enough support for the move from that sector of society, and until I do I can’t support this,” she said.

Other areas of B.C. and the U.S. are looking to get rid of DST, said Thompson. There would be difficulties with borders if Grand Forks does not change, she stated.

“Personally, I don’t care if we have one or the other, just pick one and stay with it,” Thompson said. “But I think standard time is going to be the norm.”
Coun. Neil Krog agreed.

Despite Ross’s objection, a motion to support the resolution to abolish DST passed.

Coun. Beverly Tripp brought a concern forward that the current trend of constructing micro transmitters instead of large cell phone towers is circumventing a public approval process, since the mico transmitters do not currently require any level of municipal or public consultation.

Tripp said although public consultation on the placement of cell towers is mandated, new technology is moving away from the large towers to micro transmitters which do not require local government or public consultation.

She felt the construction and placement of micro transmitters should require local government and public consultation just like thenconstruction of cell phone towers does, and the rest of council agreed.

The city will be sending a resolution for the AKBLG and UBCM to petition the relevant provincial and federal governments to mandate similar public consultation requirements for the placement of micro transmitters as per cell towers.